Is this an official camera board and does it work OK? Pros/Cons? Can't seem to find anything about it.

I do have a few of the V1 camera boards, guess I need a smaller cable to make it work with the Zero W? I'd like a smaller camera board but can make do with the old one if still compatible with the Zero W. Been out of the loop for a while, want to start a new project.

Re: Is this RPi 'mini camera' official?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:28 pm

by Paul Hutch

That does not appear to be the official camera. When I visited that page down below were links for the two official cameras (regular & NOIR).

Re: Is this RPi 'mini camera' official?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:39 pm

by 6by9

No, that board has no involvement with either Raspberry Pi Foundation or Trading.
A third party has obtained a supply of Omnivision OV5647 camera modules (went end-of-life about June 2014) and made a compatible device.

The likelihood is that if that third party has done a decent job in the cloning (and some didn't early on) then it'll just work. Please don't complain to RPF/RPT when it doesn't - those complaints need to go straight back to the supplier.

There is a cable available to connect the standard Pi camera modules to the Zero. It should be available from all the normal suppliers (eg Pimoroni).
The official case also comes with the required lead (https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/offi ... -zero-case) if you are in the market for a case too.
(Other suppliers are obviously available, Pimoroni's website came to hand first).

Re: Is this RPi 'mini camera' official?

No, that board has no involvement with either Raspberry Pi Foundation or Trading.
A third party has obtained a supply of Omnivision OV5647 camera modules (went end-of-life about June 2014) and made a compatible device.

The likelihood is that if that third party has done a decent job in the cloning (and some didn't early on) then it'll just work. Please don't complain to RPF/RPT when it doesn't - those complaints need to go straight back to the supplier.

Thanks. I know there's a lot of influx from third party 'developers' and wanted to avoid that. I'm a bit surprised that raspberrypi.org points me to kiwi-electronics.nl to purchase a Pi while they sell third party goods without clearly stating that fact. Selling used to be only by Farnell (which I used in the past) and some other company starting with an 'R', but I guess things change

There is a cable available to connect the standard Pi camera modules to the Zero. It should be available from all the normal suppliers (eg Pimoroni).
The official case also comes with the required lead (https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/offi ... -zero-case) if you are in the market for a case too.
(Other suppliers are obviously available, Pimoroni's website came to hand first).

I want to print a dedicated case myself for my project and will use an old official camera board I already have, will get a new cable. Case will be slightly bigger. I will use the kiwi-electronics.nl guys due to the shipping costs, which should be significantly lower. Thanks again!

The foundation used to be quite strict about this kind of thing. Like I said things change, which becomes apparent if you suddenly come back after a few years.

Re: Is this RPi 'mini camera' official?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 5:01 pm

by 6by9

The Foundation will clamp down on abuse of the trademarks, and for the official resellers that has significant potential repercussions.

Pimoroni and PiHut comply with the requirements in that they don't say "Raspberry Pi Camera" or similar. Kiwi Electronics might be sailing a bit close to the wind in calling it "Raspberry Pi Zero Mini Camera".
The actual product is OK as doesn't have the wording "Raspberry Pi" on it, nor have the logo (I know this as they were pulled up on it not long ago!)